38. DANTE

I’m almost ready to tear that Andrea Fortuna masterpiece right off of her as the heavy ironwood doors to my quarters slam shut behind us. But I don’t. As much as I don’t want to, I have to take this slow.

“Alone at last,” Amanda says almost shyly. “No one to get between, for as long as we want.”

I nod. “Nothing to stop us anymore.”

She looks around the room for the first time, noticing the line of tall, heavy candles that leads through the parlor into my – our – bedroom. The floor is strewn with rose petals that lead all the way to the bed.

“Oh,” she sighs. Candlelight reflects in the huge antique mirrors around the room. “It’s beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as you,” I say, gliding my fingertips along the exquisite sleeves of her dress.

“Andreas is a genius,” she says.

“I like you better without it,” I say, pulling her to me and taking her face in my hands.

Her lips are as sweet and warm as mulled wine on my tongue. Her hair, so perfectly coiffed, comes loose from her wedding stylings with just a few strategic moves of my hands. Once free, it spills down to its natural place on her shoulders.

We take it slow and easy, despite the raging need inside me. I haven’t been able to stop fantasizing about this moment since we got of the plane from Cannes. I’ve dreamt about it every night since, except for the drunken night of my bachelor party.

Her hands undo the buttons of my uniform’s tunic, letting it slide open. I shrug out of it and drape it over the back of a chair.

“I apologize for the sweat,” I say. “That thing is hot as a brick oven.”

“Then we’d best get you some air,” she says.

She deftly opens my shirt and strips it off, leaving my naked torso gleaming in the candlelight. Her hands find my chest and stroke the hair there. My cock is already straining against the pants of my uniform, even though I’ve barely touched her.

We kiss again, more urgently this time. Even though it’s only been two weeks, it feels like I’ve been waiting an eternity for this.

“Don’t go anywhere,” she says. She keeps her eyes on mine as she slinks behind the antique changing screen just outside the bedroom door. The candles cast a shadow on the fabric of the screen, showing me a perfect silhouette of her body as she glides out of Fortuna’s dress.

My cock is throbbing in time with my heart.

She takes something else off a hanger and slides into it, zipping it up in the back. When she emerges from behind the screen, I swear I almost come on the spot.

An ivory-colored silk negligee hangs from her shoulders by a pair of spaghetti straps. The neckline drops just enough to give me a tempting look at her breasts, and the hemline comes just above her panties.

It’s enough to make a man pass out from desire.

“Do you like it?” she asks nervously. “I found it in a shop in Milan and I thought maybe – ”

The animal in me wants to rip it off and toss it into the candles, but the prince wins out.

“It’s exquisite,” I say. “Come here.”

Amanda does as she’s told and meets me for another lingering kiss. With this one, she undoes the buckle of my belt and lets my pants drop to the floor. I know, I know, the uniform is an heirloom. That’s what the royal dry cleaner is for.

After a few moments, I sweep her up off the floor.

“Oh!” she gasps.

I plant my lips on hers again as I carry her across the threshold of our bedroom. It’s a long way – the room is almost 1,000 square feet – so I enjoy a long, slow kiss.

When we reach the bed, I lay her down on the coverlet. As I kneel beside her, the head of my cock makes an appearance through the fly of my silk boxers.

“Why, hello,” she says, with all the decorum one would express from a princess. “I was wondering when I was going to see you.”

She reaches out and takes hold of it lightly, stroking down until her hand disappears into my boxers. It’s all I can do to keep from losing control.

I can’t let the animal take over. This has to be special. Gentle.

My hands caress the delicate fabric of her negligee, tracing circles around her breasts. I can feel her heartbeat under my fingers. I lean in to run my mouth along her neck.

“My queen,” I whisper. “I am your fool.”

She sighs and lies back, allowing my mouth to explore her ears, then her throat, and finally down the neckline laid bare by the lingerie. The taste of her skin is salty and sweet, her scent floral mixed with her own musk.

Her hands undo the laces under her neckline and the negligee falls open, revealing her belly and the inner sides of her breasts. Below that are a pair of silk panties that barely conceal the junction of her thighs.

I can’t take much more of this.

As if reading my mind, she brazenly grabs the waistband of my shorts and yanks them down, allowing my cock to bounce free.

“That’s much better,” she purrs as she turns on her side and rises onto all fours. I catch a teasing glimpse of her nipples just as she slides the head of my cock into her mouth.

“Mmmmm,” she moans. Or is it me? I can’t focus, the pleasure is too much.

She’s becoming bolder with each encounter, trying new ways to please me. Her tongue slides up and down the underside, making my knees tremble.

“Please,” I beg. “I have to see you. All of you.”

Her eyes widen and her cheeks flush as she lets go of my shaft and rises to her knees on the bed. She slides off the negligee’s top, finally giving me a full view of her milky skin and shapely breasts. Like my cock, her nipples are at full attention.

I drop my shorts all the way to the floor and kneel beside her on the bed. My hands find the waistline of her panties and my thumbs drag them down, exposing her entrance. She quickly drops onto her back and wriggles the rest of the way out of them.

“Finally,” I breathe, covering her body with mine and closing my mouth onto hers.